


Surprise

by elenilote



Series: It's a kind of magic [11]
Category: Dragon Age
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-02
Updated: 2011-10-02
Packaged: 2017-10-24 06:24:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/260127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elenilote/pseuds/elenilote
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anders gets a surprise present from Danny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IllusionaryEnnui](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IllusionaryEnnui/gifts).



> Dedicated to IllusionaryEnnui. <3

“Danny? Honey? What’s this? There’s a a crate on the table by the door - I didn’t see it earlier.”

Anders stood by the door to the shop, it had been a busy day and this was the first time all day that he’d come inside. Danny smiled to himself, he knew well what was in the box. He had waited for Anders to finish for the day and come back to the house proper where the crate would be the first thing he’d see.

“Oh yes, _that_ one. One of the customers left it as a thank-you present, though I think it’s more for you than me. Go on, open it.”

Danny was ninety-nine percent sure that his surprise would be a welcome one, but Anders had been so miserable the last few weeks that he could not be sure. He shuffled his feet and gnawed on a finger as was his wont when nervous. What if it was too much and Anders didn’t like it after all? He let out a whoosh of breath and tried to calm himself as Anders shot him a suspicious glance - it was not often he acted like this. He bit his lip in anticipation - and a little worry - as Anders walked over to the crate and ran his hand over the top.

Anders glowed as he probed the contents of the box.

“There’s something alive in there! Maker above, how long has it been there? People can’t just put an animal in a box and close the lid - it’ll die!!”

Anders panicked, faint blue lines appeared on his skin and his eyes took on a definite glow of the Fade - _Justice_. Anders’s regard for any living thing was one of the things that Danny loved about him but this was not a matter for Justice, he had to temper the spirit's rage somehow and fast. He closed the distance between them in two quick strides and placed his hand on top of Anders’s to calm him. He didn't have Anders’s knack for healing but his father had taught him a thing or two about how to calm skittish animals. His caress on Anders’s hand calmed and soothed the panic away as he leaned his cheek against the other’s shoulder.

“Calm down love, I closed the lid myself only ten minutes ago. There’s a hole on the side for air. All I did was put a silencing spell on it so the noise wouldn't give away the surprise. Now stop fretting and open it!”

His actions seemed to have the desired effect as Anders stilled, the unearthly blue glow disappeared and he concentrated on opening the box without scaring whatever was inside. Anders fumbled with the lid and Danny heard him curse under his breath - he must have caught a splinter. Danny held his breath and moved a little to the side so he could see Anders's expression when he saw his present.

Anders lifted the lid with both hands and paused. In the box were six small kittens. They all looked up at Anders, eyes bright with expectation. The silence spell had been broken as Anders opened the lid and the cacophony of tiny cries that now came from inside the box made him squeal.

“Sweet Andraste, Danny! Baby, where...how did you...” He paused and placed the lid on the floor to free his hands to pet and fawn over the kittens that stared up at him.

“Oh, Maker, you lot are adorable. Yes, you are! Oh, let me take you - ah, no biting!”

The little kittens scrambled over one another in their haste to greet Anders. One in particular - a little grey one - managed to nip at Anders’s finger in its excitement. Danny’s heart fluttered at the sight: kittens everywhere, each more determined than the other to cling to every part of Anders that was visible.

“Aww...I know my little one, you want out of this horrid box…...yes, yes, I’ll get to you in a minute. No need to cry - no one will be left behind...”

This last promise was directed at the smallest one, an orange tabby that had let out a heart-wrenching mewl as Anders picked up four of its siblings out of the box. They were so small, you could have fit three of them in one of Anders’s palms. Danny marveled at how gentle Anders was with the kittens. Although they scratched and nibbled at his wrists and arms, he never let out more than an occasional indrawn breath.

Anders set the first four kittens on the floor by his feet where they proceeded to try and climb their way up again. A scrawny black one even made its way to Danny and attempted to claw its way up his leg. He leaned down and disengaged its claws from his leg and was rewarded with a lick on his nose and a contented purr from the kitten. It was so soft and fluffy - Danny started to understand what drew Anders to cats and laughed as he remembered when Lightning was a puppy, how small and warm it had felt in his arms. He buried his nose in the kitten’s neck and breathed a happy sigh - things just might be okay after all.

Meanwhile, Anders had managed to scoop up the remaining two kittens out of the box and was now sat on the floor where five little furballs fought for space on his lap. He looked up and Danny’s breath caught in his throat at the joy reflected in Anders’s face.

“Oh honey...this is the best present ever, I mean...they are only what, six or seven weeks old? Barely weaned from their mother! You said a client left them?”

Danny had to chuckle, Anders sounded breathless and his cheeks were flushed, a sight he had not seen in quite a while.

“Yes, she told me the mother had been run over by a carriage and she really couldn’t look after a whole litter of kittens. She’d heard you mention once how much you liked cats and well, she didn’t have money to pay for the potions so I said the kittens are just fine and she wouldn't have to pay for anything for at least a year....oh, Anders, you look so happy! I haven’t seen you like this in so long...not since when we got Ginger, remember? You just stay there and enjoy the new arrivals and I’ll go tell Orana to find a basket for them to sleep in.”

Danny smiled and stepped over to hand the sleepy black kitten back to Anders, careful not to wake it. He stayed there for a moment and just looked on as Anders petted the kittens and murmured soothing words into their furry ears. If this was all it took to shake Anders from the melancholy that had gripped him ever since they fled Kirkwall and arrived in Ghislain, then he would be happy to scour all of Orlais and find strays to bring home to Anders.

He walked back to the shop and instructed Orana to find a basket and some old blankets for the kittens to sleep in. Lightning dozed under the counter as usual, Danny debated whether to wake him up and introduce to the kittens now or to let him sleep and ask Anders to bring the kittens round later in the evening. _Best let the old guy sleep, plenty of excitement in store for him later._  
He smiled at the memory of how the hound had taken to their previous cat, Ginger; he didn’t think there would be any problems with the little ones.

In the following days a marked change was seen in Anders. His eyes sparkled with mirth and he smiled at everyone. Laughter coloured his voice and he seemed...more at ease with himself than before.

As expected, Lightning was enraptured with the house’s tiny new inhabitants. The kittens followed the ancient hound around the house and he in turn kept them out of trouble. Once, Danny had seen Lightning pick up Pumpkin, the little orange tabby, up in his jaws and move her away from where she had climbed up the curtains in the bedroom. _Pumpkin_...Danny had laughed when Anders sat him down and named each of the kittens.

“Well, she’s orange and it is autumn so Pumpkin seemed like an obvious choice. This one - ” Anders indicated the grey male “-he’s a trickster, always making mischief, I’m going to call him Peanut. And these two,” he pointed at a pair, one white and one pale brown colour, snuggled together in a ball in the basket, “they are inseparable. She is called Cinnamon - as she is cinnamon-coloured and her sister is called Sugar. Remember that brave black one who climbed all over your leg? Well, I’ve named him Justice. Yes, yes, I know I probably shouldn’t have but there is a strange resemblance...”

 _Justice_. Danny twitched, he’d never been comfortable with the spirit that had taken residence in Anders’s head, no matter that he had lived with the situation for almost ten years now. Although, it had not manifested itself in a long time now, not since the fight that drove them out of Kirkwall, but he felt wary anyway.

“Are you sure, Anders? I don’t want the kitten to suffer for its name, just in case Justice decides one day that he’d much rather not have a namesake...”

“There’s no need to worry, Danny. Justice won’t make any trouble, trust me. Anyway, one more kitten to name, I thought you might want to do that.”

Danny was stunned at the unexpected gesture.

“Oh...thank you! Umm...gosh, I’ve never named a cat before. Let’s see...it’s a boy, isn’t it?”

Danny lifted the little blue kitten from where it gnawed on a piece of cloth torn from the basket’s padding.

“Let’s think of a name for you then, shall we? Hmm...you remind me of the colour of a storm cloud...I think I’ll call you Stormy. How about that, little one?”

The kitten didn't take any note of its new name, his attention captured by the laces on the front of Danny’s shirt. With a laugh, Danny handed Stormy back to Anders and returned to the shop while Anders played with the kittens.

Danny felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. They were free and Anders was happy. The kittens brought life and laughter to their lives and for once, it looked like things would be all right after all.

They would make it.


End file.
